Last week in Part 1 of “I’m done with it, now what?” I talked about some household items that need to be disposed of in a responsible manner. Today I am going to list some items that many may believe are appropriate for the recycling bin, but actually cannot be recycled and will end up in the landfill anyway.
Here in Virginia Beach we have our big blue recycling bin that is picked up by the city every other week. As I drive around the city one thing that I notice occasionally is how many times these blue bins get used as an extra trash bin. This really does add to the cost of running an efficient recycling program.
There are as many arguments against the benefits of recycling as there are for recycling. That is not the topic of discussion here. This is for those who recycle out of a feeling of obligation, necessity or goodwill.
There are many reasons why certain items cannot be recycled. It could be that other components that went into making the product cause the final product to be non-recyclable. Colors, dyes, oils, and chemicals are one of the big reasons that a product will not be able to be recycled. Other reasons pertain to how we use the product, like cardboard pizza boxes. The box itself most times would be eligible for recycling, but once it is covered with the oils from the pizza it cannot be recycled.
One of the arguments against recycling is the amount of time, energy and other resources that go into recycling. So if you are doing your part by being a conscientious recycler make sure that you do not add more work to the process. A lot of resources going into the collection of recycling materials, and if what we put in our recycling bins is going to end up back with the rest of the trash we just end up using resources that could be utilized in a better way.
Here are some items that can’t be recycled
Comments(4)